Kuwait Oil‑Rig Worker Stuck Amid US‑Israel‑Iran War
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- Swapnil Ghosh – an electronics and instrumentation engineer on an onshore oil rig in Kuwait, described living under “missiles overhead” and feeling the war’s heat during a video call.
- Kuwait – saw strategic oil infrastructure hit, including oil tankers near Kuwait International Airport and the Mina Al‑Ahmadi refinery, as the US‑Israel‑Iran conflict escalated.
- Power and desalination plant – was struck on March 30, killing an Indian worker, highlighting civilian casualties in the Gulf.
- Two‑week ceasefire – has brought limited calm, but flight restrictions remain, preventing Ghosh’s replacement from arriving and delaying his return home.
- Expatriates – are advised to keep travel bags ready and face intense security checks, including frisking and sniffer‑dog inspections, when leaving Kuwait via Saudi Arabia.
Why it matters: The conflict’s spillover halts expatriate workers’ repatriation and hampers oil‑rig operations, forcing companies to run limited production under missile risk and imposing costly security checks on travelers, thereby raising operational costs and personal hardship for the labour force and exposing the global oil supply chain to sudden disruptions.
